


Anchored

by Chasing_Crows



Category: Notre-Dame de Paris | The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - All Media Types, Notre-Dame de Paris | The Hunchback of Notre-Dame - Victor Hugo
Genre: Adoption, Comfort, Family, Family Bonding, Father Figures, Father-Son Relationship, Fatherhood, Gen, Parenthood, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 00:56:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28555002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Crows/pseuds/Chasing_Crows
Summary: A young Claude Frollo adopts the foundling child Quasimodo and they spend some time getting used to each other.
Relationships: Claude Frollo & Quasimodo
Kudos: 9





	Anchored

“I adopt this child,” the young priest said as he placed his hand over the boy. He picked him up and wrapped him in his cassock, ignoring the whispers and stares from onlookers as he walked towards Notre Dame. All the while the terrified child was crying as he struggled to free himself from the sack that bound him.

Once inside the cathedral, Claude took the child to his room in the cloisters. He was so focused on bringing the boy to safety that the archdeacon hadn’t taken the time to closely look at him. A misshapen head protruded from the sack, and Claude felt that he couldn’t get a good idea of what the boy was like since his face was covered with a large wart and a shock of red hair.

The boy’s wails hadn’t lessened since Claude had first collected him, and he held the child close to his chest in an attempt to calm him. Sitting down on the bed, he slowly rocked from side to side as he often did with his little Jehan. He rubbed the boy’s back and could feel his warped spine through the coarse material of the sack. Once the child had relaxed some and his wails subsided, he loosened the knot that held the sack in place around his neck.

With his head already free, Claude slid the fabric off the boy’s shoulders and proceeded to remove him entirely. His body was twisted and crooked, leaving him to be forever hunched over. His knock-knee legs and oversized arms only made him all the more awkward. One eye was obscured by a wart, and the rest of his facial features were so contorted that he looked as if his maker had left him only halfway finished. When the priest looked at him, he was overwhelmed by a combination of horror and pity.

In seeing the boy abandoned, Claude was reminded of how his precious Jehan was once just as alone in the world. Although he felt his heart swell with pity and compassion for the child, the love he felt was different from that for Jehan. Simply the thought of his pretty blond baby brought a smile to the austere man’s face. His little brother was all the love he knew, and looking at the deformed boy filled his heart with only the shadow of his love for Jehan.

Although the boy had calmed down somewhat, Claude could tell that he was still filled with fear. He trembled in the man’s lap and looked around the small room cautiously. Slowly, the priest tilted the boy’s face up so their eyes met. A sigh parted the lips of the priest rather than a smile, but regardless his countenance displayed only compassion. The child gazed back at him with his one good eye, and he seemed to sense that his life was different now. The priest guided the boy’s head back so it rested on his chest yet again, and he resumed his rocking. However, this time the boy stayed of his own free will rather than being held in place by the sack. Although he didn’t nestle into Claude with the feeling of security that Jehan might have, the small boy was content to be close to someone who meant him no harm.

What exactly that child was feeling was not completely clear, but his heart was undergoing a great change. All his life, he wasn’t attached to any place or person- wandering and floating about with no sense of belonging. He was neither trusted nor loved by anyone, and he therefore neither trusted nor loved anyone in return. But now this stranger had appeared, and he did not laugh at the boy or kick him aside. Previously he had been a small boat drifting with no destination, being tossed haphazardly about by the hostile sea. While he had only ever been subject to the whims and fancies of the waves, he now had an anchor to keep him grounded and secure. There was no trace of malice or contempt in this stranger, and the boy did not know how to respond. Instead, the man had shown him kindness, which confused the boy since all he had ever known was hatred. The child couldn’t comprehend what this meant, except that this man must be extraordinarily good to treat him so well.

Although Claude’s feelings for this boy weren’t the same as those he held for Jehan, something still stirred in his heart for the child. He didn’t yet understand what it was, but just as the boy did, the priest sensed that his life would be very different with the addition of this strange child.

In the meantime, the lonely boy and serious priest sat together in silence as a new chapter in their lives began.


End file.
